Angled patch panel with cable support bar for network cable racks

ABSTRACT

A patch panel mountable to a network rack includes a patch panel frame and rack mounting plates. The frame forms a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack. The rack mounting plates are provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section and allow the panel to be mounted to a network rack. The central section includes two panel sections angled outwardly in an inverted V-shape, and the central section has mounted thereon a plurality of cable connectors that recieve cabling on the front side and the rear side of the patch panel frame. Each connector has a horizontal axis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

Generally, the present invention relates to cable management devices fornetwork equipment racks. In particular, the invention relates to anangled patch panel and cable support bar therefor.

2. Description of Related Art

Cables, such as UTP, ScTP, coaxial and fiber optic cables, transmitdata, voice, video and/or audio information in the telecommunicationsindustry. Patch panel or network equipment enclosure and rack systemsare well-known in the industry. They manage and organize such cablesboth to and from such equipment and/or to and from cross-connectsystems. These systems usually include the standard EIA 19″, 23″ orother distribution frame rack on which one or more patch panels, networkequipment, fiber optic enclosures and the like are mounted. Rackenclosures serve various functions, including their use as slack trays,splice trays, cable organizers and patch panels. These racks also serveas interconnect or cross-connect enclosures when they interface withequipment. Additionally, these racks may serve as a telecommunicationscloset, allowing the cables to be terminated, spliced, patched and/orstored at various places along their length.

The rack is usually formed from a frame having mounting apertureslocated along the vertical legs or walls of the rack. Patchingequipment, such as a patch panel, is mounted onto the rack so as togenerally define a patching side, where patch cords from another activedevice or another patch panel can be cross-connected and interconnected,and a distribution side, where cables from network equipment and/or workstation areas are terminated. Generally, some form of cable managementis provided on both sides of the rack to support and route the cables.While preventing detrimental bending is always important even for coppercabling, with the increasing use of fiber optic connectors as applied toconnector rack systems, proper cable management and bend radius controlhas become increasingly important. Many known systems are unable toprovide complete bend radius control, are inefficient, are difficult tomanufacture, are difficult to manage and access, and/or have otherdrawbacks. Thus, improvement in the cable management of network racksystems is desired. In particular, many patch panel systems require bothhorizontal and vertical cable management within the rack.

There is a need for a patch panel design that eliminates the necessityfor one or more of these external cable management devices.

There is also a need for a patch panel system that can accommodate moreport capacity and provide additional space for containing cabling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved patch panel fora network rack that can provide better cable management without the needfor a horizontal cable manager.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved patch panelthat can accommodate greater port capacity.

It is another object of the invention to provide cable support to apatch panel.

Various ones of the above and other objects are achieved by a patchpanel mountable to a network rack comprising a frame and rack mountingplates. The frame forms a central section having a longitudinal widthsized to fit within the network rack, a predefined height, a front side,and a rear side. The rack mounting plates are provided on oppositelongitudinal ends of the central section and allow the panel to bemounted to a network rack. The central section is angled outwardly in aninverted V-shape. The central section has mountable thereon a pluralityof cable connectors that receive cabling on the front side and the rearside of the patch panel frame. When mounted, the plurality of cableconnectors are oriented to have rear surfaces thereof face a common axisof the central section.

Various ones of the above and other objects are also achieved by anetwork rack and patch panel assembly, comprising: a network rack havingtwo rails spaced a predetermined distance from each other, each railincluding spaced mounting openings; and a patch panel mounted to thenetwork rack. The patch panel includes a frame forming a central sectionand having a longitudinal width sized to fit between the two rails, apredefined height, a front side, and a rear side. The patch panel alsoincludes rack mounting plates provided on opposite longitudinal ends ofthe central section connected to ones of the spaced mounting openings ofthe rails. The central section is angled outwardly in an invertedV-shape. Mounted on the central section are a plurality of cableconnectors that receive cabling on the front side and the rear side ofthe patch panel frame. The plurality of cable connectors are oriented tohave rear surfaces thereof face a common axis of the central section.

The patch panel and rack may further include a cable support bar thatsupports the weight of cabling exiting the rear of the patch panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent from the following description ofpreferred embodiments with references to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an exploded isometric view of a first embodiment of anangled patch panel according to the present invention and a cablesupport bar therefor;

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the patch panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of an insert module loaded with four cableconnector modules being inserted into the patch panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows the patch panel of FIG. 1 and the cable support bar loadedonto a 19″ standard rack;

FIG. 5 is a detailed partial view of the 19″ standard rack of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the patch panel and the 19″ standard rack ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 7 show an isometric view of a second embodiment of an angled patchpanel according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows the insert modules used in the second embodiment of thepatch panel; and

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of an insert module loaded with four cableconnector modules being loaded into the second embodiment of the patchpanel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A patch panel 100 according to an exemplary first embodiment of theinvention is generally shown in FIGS. 1-6 and is useful in providing asupport panel for mounting reconfigurable ports for patching componentsin a network rack.

The patch panel 100 includes an outwardly angled central frame 110, aplurality of faceplate openings 120 and a mounting plate 130 at each endwith a plurality of mounting apertures 135, as shown in FIG. 1. A flatcenterpiece 140 located midway along frame 110 may be provided to spacethe openings 120 on opposite halves of the central frame 110 from eachother. This centerpiece 140 also slightly reduces the depth D of thepatch panel by eliminating the angle at a central portion where noopenings 120 are located. Patch panel 100 is preferably formed of asuitable material, such as metal so as to be self grounding. However,when a separate grounding bar is available, frame 110 may be formed ofany suitable rigid material, such as many plastics or composites. Aseparate or integral cable support bar 200 may be provided on a rearside of the patch panel. Cable support bar 200 includes a bar portion210 and mounting plates 220.

Both the patch panel 100 and cable support bar 200 are designed to mounton a rack. Patch panel 100 can be any size, but preferably is sized witha width W to fit within a conventional 19″ or 23″ EIA network rack thathas spaced vertical rails or legs 510 that allow the mounting of variousrack elements thereon (see FIGS. 4-5). The patch panel can occupy asingle rack unit height of 1.75″ (4.45 cm) or multiple rack unit height,such as the two rack unit height illustrated (3.5″ or 8.9 cm). The rack500 should have various mounting openings 520 or comparable devices tofacilitate equipment mounting. When mounted, patch panel 100 protrudesout from the front of the rack 500 by a distance D of several inches, asshown in FIGS. 2 and 6, due to the outwardly angled frame 110.

The invention is not limited to such EIA racks, but is equallyapplicable to other known or subsequently developed racks. Moreover, anetwork rack 500 need not be an open frame structure as in the above EIAracks, but may include mounting cabinets or enclosures having mountingfeatures and walls defining openings that can receive and affix rackelements, such as the patch panel 100, cable managers and the like.

Patch panel 100 is angled outwardly in a generally inverted V-shape.FIG. 2 shows a top view of the angled patch panel 100. Each half of thepatch panel frame 110 is preferably a mirror image and angled from theother by an angle φ,°which is an obtuse angle of a suitable angle ofbetween about 90° and 180°, preferably an angle of between about 100° to140°, and more preferably between about 110° and 130°. The illustrativeembodiment shown has an angle φ of about 120.° This allows cablesattached to the front of the patch panel to flow directly to one or morevertical cable managers located adjacent the network rack.

The patch panel frame halves are also angled relative to mountingbrackets 130 (which are oriented in line with each other and parallel tothe front sides of rails 510 of the mounting rack 500) at an angle ofθ,° which is an acute angle of preferably not more than 45°, preferablybetween about 20° to 40° degrees, and more preferably between about 25°and 35°. In the illustrative example, the angle θ is about 30°. Whilethe central section is shown and described as being symmetrical, it isto be understood that the patch panel sections 110 could be disposed atdifferent angles relative to the brackets 130 and thus be of differentlengths.

Patch panel 100 has a plurality of faceplate openings 120 that receiveinsert modules 300, as shown in FIG. 3. The insert modules 300 are sizedto fit within openings 120, preferably by snap fit. However, rather thanreplaceable modules, modules 300 may be integrated into frame 110. Themodules and openings may be multiple rack unit heights or may be sizedas a single rack unit height, as shown. In the first illustrativeexemplary embodiment, patch panel 100 has twelve faceplate openings 120.These twelve faceplate openings 120 allow twelve insert modules 300 tobe inserted into the patch panel 100, as shown in FIG. 3.

Insert modules 300 are fitted to hold one or more removable cableconnector modules 400. Cable connector modules 400 may take many forms,such as electrical, optical, telecommunications-related or other knownor subsequently developed connector for connecting cabling. Preferredmodules are capable of connecting UTP, ScTP, coaxial and/or fiber opticcables used in the telecommunications industry to transmit data, voice,video and/or audio information.

Insert modules 300 are secured within patch panel openings 120 by way ofsnap fit, as is known in the art. FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of aninsert module 300 loaded with four cable connector modules 400 that isthen inserted into patch panel 100. Three other insert modules 300 withcable connector modules 400 are already loaded into patch panel 100. Inthis first illustrative example of FIGS. 1-6, patch panel 100 can have atotal of twelve insert modules 300, each with a capacity of fourconnector modules 400 for a total capacity of 48 ports in a two rackunit space.

There are several advantages to the inventive patch panel. By making theframe angled outwardly in an inverted V-shape, the cable connectormodules when inserted into the openings all face a common central axis(parallel to the depth direction D). This provides front connectorsurfaces that are better oriented relative to front corners of the rackrails 510, where vertical cable managers or ducts 530 are provided thatcontain cables 540 that mate with front sides of various ones of thecable connector modules 400 as shown in FIG. 6. In particular, theangled frame 110 provides a connector surface that is at a reduced anglerelative to an exit direction of the cables exiting the vertical cablemanager as compared to conventional patch panels. That is, prior art,flat-faced patch panels were located substantially parallel to the exitdirection and required a 90° cable bend for connection. This requires anexternal horizontal cable manager to control the bend and provide aminimum bend radius. However, as the inventive patch panel has surfacesthat intersect this exit direction (direction X in FIG. 6) at a strongacute angle, the bend necessary to achieve connection is substantiallyless than 90° as shown. This reduces or eliminates the need foradditional horizontal cable management to guide exiting cables from thevertical cable managers 530 to the patch panel 100 as the cables 540more naturally flow from the vertical ducts 530 to the individualconnector modules 400.

Additionally, this structure results in slightly shorter patch cablelengths than before. Moreover, the outwardly angled frame 110 providesincreased space behind patch panel 100 for housing the cabling. That is,as shown in FIG. 6, a conventional flat-faced patch panel would be flushto the rack rails 510 and would thus only provide an area of the innerrectangle between rails 510. However, with the angled patch panel, thereceiving area is this inner rectangle plus the triangular area definedby the outwardly extending frame of patch panel 100.

Further, by making the front ace of the patch panel angled (in aninverted V-shape), rather than flat, there is additional surface area onthe front face of the patch panel that allows for increased portcapacity for the patch panel. That is, for a rack of a given width, suchas 19″, a conventional flat patch panel would only have a surface areaequal to 19″×N×1.75″, where N is the number of rack units in height.However, at any given angle θ, the total length of the two angled halvesof frame 110 will be greater than the length of a corresponding flatpiece. For example, with the inventive angled path panel front face atan exemplary angle θ of 30°, the surface area is approximately22″×N×1.75″. This and other surface areas for other angles θ can besimply solved using basic trigonometric principles.

The aforementioned features work together to increase the functionalityof the inventive patch panel. That is, the increased space behind thepatch panel helps accommodate the cabling needs resulting from theincreased port capacity due to the extra patch panel surface area, andthe uniformly angled connector modules better manage the cabling on thefront side of the patch panel by reducing the necessary bend angle forincoming cabling, eliminating the need for external horizontal cablemanagers as often required with conventional patch panels.

While horizontal cable management on the front side may not benecessary, it may be beneficial to provide cable support bar 200 toassist in supporting the weight of the various cabling attached to therear side of patch panel 100, and to assist in the direction of thecables exiting patch panel 100. Cable support bar 200 is preferablyformed of a suitable material, such as metal. Support bar portion 210preferably extends the entire width of rack 500 and includes mountingplates 220 each with at least one mounting aperture 225 as shown tomount the support bar on rack 500 or comparable device.

Cable support bar 200 is preferably separate from patch panel 100, butmay be integrally formed therewith if desired. Cable support bar 200 maybe attached to rack 500 using mounting apertures 225 either from thefront when the patch panel 100 is attached, or from the back after thepatch panel 100 has been attached. Attaching the cable support bar 200from the back allows the end user to install the cable support bar 200after all of the connectors have been terminated, thus eliminating anyinterference from the cable support bar 200 when terminating theconnectors.

In a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 7-9, avariation in configuration is provided. Patch panel 700 is angled withangles φ and θ as in the first illustrative embodiment. However, forthis embodiment, there are only six faceplate openings 720 in frame 710that allow for twelve pack insert modules 800 to be inserted therein.These modules occupy a double rack height. Like the previous embodiment,mounting plates 730 are provided for mounting the patch panel to a rackand a flat centerpiece 740 may be provided.

The twelve-pack insert modules 800 for the second embodiment of thepresent invention are shown in FIG. 8. While more or less connectormodules could be provided, the illustrative insert modules 800 arecapable of receiving up to twelve single-spaced cable connector modules900. To allow a snap fit within openings 720, insert modules 800 havefour ‘upside down’ snaps 810, as shown in FIG. 8, which hold insertmodule 800 to patch panel 700. However, other methods of affixing insertmodules 800 to openings 720 are contemplated.

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of an insert module 800 loaded with fourexemplary cable connector modules 900 being positioned for mounting intopatch panel 700. Five other insert modules 800 with cable connectormodules 900 are shown already loaded into patch panel 700. While notnecessary, the illustrative patch panel 700 covers two rack units as inthe previous embodiment and fits into a standard 19″ network rack. Withthis configuration, a capacity of 72 cable connector ports can beachieved in a two rack height patch panel.

As in the previous embodiment, frame 710 is angled outwardly in aninverted V-shape so that the rear of all of the ports are angled towarda common central axis. This provides better flow of the cabling enteringthe front of patch panel 700 as described with respect to the firstembodiment to eliminate the need for a front external horizontal cablemanager. However, as in the first embodiment, a cable support bar 200may be provided to support the weight of exiting cables to the rear ofpatch panel 700.

While the invention has been shown and described in conjunction withspecific exemplary embodiments, the invention is not limited to these.It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the teachings of thisinvention and that the matter set forth in the foregoing description andaccompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not asa limitation. The actual scope of the invention is intended to bedefined in the following appended claims.

1-27. (canceled)
 28. A patch panel having a plurality of openings formounting communication connectors, the patch panel comprising: a framehaving two rack mounting ends for mounting the patch panel to a networkrack, wherein the frame includes a first plurality of openings located afirst distance from a horizontal axis extending between the rackmounting ends and a second plurality of openings located a seconddistance from the horizontal axis extending between the rack mountingends, the second distance being greater than the first distance.
 29. Thepatch panel of claim 28, wherein the first plurality of openings islocated closer to one of the rack mounting ends than the secondplurality of openings is located to either of the rack mounting ends.30. The patch panel of claim 28, further comprising a third plurality ofopenings located a third distance from the horizontal axis extendingbetween the rack mounting ends, wherein the third distance is greaterthan the second distance.
 31. The patch panel of claim 30, wherein thesecond plurality of openings is located closer to one of the rackmounting ends than the third plurality of openings is located to eitherof the rack mounting ends.